Carlos Corral

Actually, the sound mixer sometimes acts as the 2nd Gaffer while on a set. 75% of the time I will plant myself where I believe I need to be based on the 1st round plan of the DP and his lighting. Then, without fail, the gaffer and DP will ask me to move because the position I picked is where they will put another light/flag/bounce.

I need to stay of the internet on April 1st.

The first (30) seconds of that video gave me a really bad flashback O_O. Does anyone else feel that producers want us to start being more like mobile sound carts in a sound bag? Don't get me wrong, I see this as a replacement/alternative to the 788T for bag work but still...I beg the question...are more channels better for bag work? This bag setup alone gave me back pain after 2 days of using it. Is it an injury waiting to happen? Thoughts? (the picture was a rental fyi hence the bad flashback I had)

I've tried to keep my rate at $750-$850 a day for my market area (labor w/ 3 wires, boom, mixer/recorder, betso box, and slate). If producers say thats too high, then I started subtracting gear but the price never goes lower than $700. Timecode is always a must since I don't want post ever blaming sound. I've started to avoid reality TV since they demand too much and don't pay enough for gear they request. Anything lower than $700 for me is usually a favor to friends only. Otherwise, I tell them the same thing Jose says. "If they are cheaper than my rate, fly them in." One line that always seems to work is this one:

Can you confirm that with photos of the set? I'd be really surprised if "Better Call Saul" relied only on wires for sound. That would be crazy.

Bought me some of these bad boys .

thanks brotha!

I had a great time meeting and chatting with everyone as well. Thank you Tyler and Jack. I hope to see you all again next year hopefully. My long journey from El Paso to Dallas was totally worth it when I walked away with this raffle beautiful raffle prize. Thanks to Jose Frias for the ORCA demonstrations as well!

Harvest is pretty good. It's the one I use. https://www.getharvest.com/

A lot in West Texas its actually quite common. El Paso isn't an LA or NYC market so there are times when doing commercials here in town results in the one man sound guy. I did a commercial spot for Land Rover recently back in August in TorC, NM. I was the one man sound guy and did alright for myself. For bigger spots, yes I agree there should be a 2-3 man team. Sometimes it just depends on the market. Call me cheap if you want Senator, but I know the needs of the market I'm in. A majority of the better paying sound gigs I get are all from out of town clients (LA/NY). Those teams only bring 1 person on. I've asked for assistance before but it all comes down to the producer. Very rarely do commercial, corp, doc, and reality productions hire 2-3 man sound teams here. I've always been on 2-3 man teams for narrative features though. They would be crazy not to.

They've never heard of a 2-3 man team because those Producers have never actually worked on a narrative film set. One man sound guys who mix and boom are usually doing corporate, commercial, documentary or reality based productions.

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It all depends on the situation, the boom pole length, and weight of the mic. Give me a MKH50 and a 16ft. pole and I can boom for a solid 45-60min before I need a break. Make it a Rycote + Shotgun Mic and that goes down to about 30min before I need a break. A 12ft pole with a MKH50 and I'm good for at least an hour before a break. A 20ft. pole fully extended with a ME60 + rycote + doing 4 straight 6min takes and I'm down for the count after 24min+. Last time this happened I had to take a break for at least an hour. The DP was having fun riding is long dolly with a 28mm lens.

Not me lol.

Was on a reality shoot recently. One of the CameraOps / 2nd DP said he didn't need any information on the slate, only needed to see the timecode numbers. I told him that editorial informed me they wanted everything labeled (Roll, Scene, Take). 2nd DP: "You're only on this show for 2 days. You don't know how this all works. I don't need all that info on the slate." Me: "Oh, you're one of THOSE, DPs aren't you?" His stare at me said it all....

It can be tough especially in long interviews. I did a gig recently where we were doing some pretty emotional interviews. Some of the interviewees were nervous so depending on the vibe I got, I did what I could hiding the lav without making them feel too uncomfortable. Had some rustle hear and there and the lav fell a few times due to body temp, sweat, and heat. I was unsure whether to stop since the subjects got a little nervous and emotional settings. I made a call and let the producer finish the interview. You may think that's crazy, but my other interview mic was the CS3e, so I wasn't too worried about the lav. I just make sure I note everything in the sound reports. Hopefully, the post peeps know to use the boom over the lav, but who knows these days.

Usually for Narrative or Doc shoots, I'll throw a reference shotgun mic on the camera. With the timecode slate, they know they have to sync things in post. Or, I tether myself to the camera Boom on L and Lavs on R. Wireless Hops all depend on the production manager and if they have the budget for it. For reality gigs, producers always want wireless hops w/ all wires. If they see a boom pole or shotgun mic, the producers all hiss like vampires do when they see a crucifix. Most DPs are okay with me running no audio to the camera, only timecode. Or if DPs/ACs tell me to stay away from the camera entirely I make sure the timecode slate covers it. I'm always sure to bring up all issues before we start to the producer, DP, and Director when it comes to how the production will be flowing. I try to troubleshoot any and all problems before they come up, that we I can reference the email or say "we had this conversation before we started". Otherwise, there is much else we can do. Thoughts?

If you are on a budget, PM me. I have a used RODE blimp I'm looking to sell.

It all really depends on the personality. Since the boom op is usually the spokesperson for the mixer, I tend to try and introduce myself to everyone on set so that I can gauge their personality. I've had to deal with AC's who don't want me touching the camera and yet when I ask them to sync TC or run tone to the camera, they will push away and say thats not their dept, when in reality, it is. Usually, if this happens, I tell the AC that we both need to bring this issue up to the DP, Mixer, and AD in order to get a resoultion. Usually, atfer I say that, their EGO will back off and will attempt to help me since they don't want to be seen as someone hindering the process. ADs will vary when comes to their knowledge of sound. A majority of them only care about "THE SHOT" and will forget about sound entirely and just say "role camera, ACTION". This will give me an indication that I'm dealing with an amatuer and will attempt to pull them aside and explain to them how to call a proper role. I try not to call anyone in front of everyone because its un-professinal. I have lost my cool though, once with a DP and once with an AD as a boom operator. The DP was on a dolly in a room and would forget to tell me how far out he would dolly. I busted almost every shot, not with the boom, but with my body. He asked me to get out of the entire scene and let the wires do the work. I yelled at him in front of everyone and told him that was like him shooting this entire scene with a DSLR. Somehow he understood and we worked out a compromise. As for the AD, he was major amatuer but the DP and I knew this what we were getting into and decided to role with it. After day 3 of improper role calls, yelling, and screaming on his end. We both lost our cools and called him out 2 different times in front of everyone. He did everything correctly after both the DP and I had to explain the role of AD and how they need to be attentive to both Camera and Sound.

I actually use fingerless magic gloves as a boom op: http://www.amazon.com/Pack-Magic-Fingerless-Glove-Black/dp/B00306GBVI/ref=sr_1_12?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1397749335&sr=1-12&keywords=magic+gloves They let me slide the boom pole around like a pool cue if I need to make any quick movements on set. I usually use these gloves when I'm boom oping poles 9ft.-12ft. Once I hit 16ft to 20ft. poles, I'll swap for some grip gloves.

The 633 is a great little addition to the SD family, but I won't be giving up my 552/744T combo anytime soon. The 744T is still has amazing pre-amps and my sound recordings are beautiful. I use the 552 for Stereo Mix backup but when I compare the recording quality, the 744T gives me a lot nicer quality of recording.

Cool little app.

I'm glad this picture hasn't gotten old yet lol.

All depends on the market you are in. I'm in El Paso, TX. Not too many Sound Mixers here. The few that are here all use their own equipment on gigs. Had to rent for first few gigs until I had enough to make the investment on my first audio bag configuration. Even today, I'm still upgrading it.

Welcome Amanda! Film school isn't a waste. If anything, you will learn something new on every student film production. You will make mistakes but you also have the ability to correct them and gain experience, all of which will lead to the most important lesson of all. Learning "ON SET ETIQUETTE". Sound is where I got my start in college (film school) due to the fact that no one wanted to be the boom operator. For some reason, everyone hated that job. But after doing 1 student production, everyone seemed to want to have me on since I was willing to do the job. Film School is a place to make mistakes and learn from experience. You're SOUND education will continue even after Film School. Every Sound Mixer I have worked with on set has taught me something new. The most important way to get on a person's radar is always maintaining professionalism .